Furnace charging apparatus

ABSTRACT

A charging apparatus for an open hearth furnace includes a plurality of adjacent open topped boxes which are individually pivotally mounted on a support car. Each box has a trunnion mounted hydraulic cylinder associated therewith for individually pivoting the boxes to discharge a load of steel scrap or other solids into an open hearth furnace. The support car is mounted on tracks to enable positioning the charging boxes in alignment with the furnace charging doors.

titted States Patent 11 1 1111 3,869,051 Sczerba Mar, 4, 1975 FURNACECHARGING APPARATUS 3,107,797 10/1963 McFeaters et al. 214/18 so [75]Inventor: Stanley T. Sczerba McKeesport, Pa. 3,206,046 9/1965 Houdeshell214/18 SC Assigneei Pennsylvifnia Engineering Primary Examiner-Robert G.Sheridan Corporation, Plttsburgh, fi- Attorney, Agent, or Firm-FredWiviott [22] Filed: May 4, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 357,507 [57] ABSTRACT Acharging apparatus for an open hearth furnace in- 52 us. c1. 214/18 sc,266/33 cludes a plurality of adjacent Open topped boxes 51 1m. (:1. F27b3/18 which are individually Pivmally mounted on a Supp)rt [58] Field ofSearch 214/18 R 18 SC 35 R car. Each box has a trunnion mountedhydraulic cylin- 2l4/314 5 der associated therewith for individuallypivoting the s 7 boxes to discharge a load of steel scrap or othersolids [56] References Cited into an open hearth furnace. The supportcar is 1 mounted on tracks to enable positioning the charging UNITEDSTATES PATENTS boxes in alignment with the furnace charging doors.1,471,028 10/1923 Hogenson 214/24 2,606,015 8/1952 Brooke 214/24 5Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 1 FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Open hearth furnace practice generally involves charging thefurnace with materials such as steel scrap, cold pig iron, iron ore,limestone and various other solid materials. The type, quantity andproportions of charged material depend on the capacity and the type offurnace lining, ie., acid or basic and on the desired chemistry of thesteel produced. Conventionally furnace charging machines usually includea cantilever arm or peel which engages a charging box containing solidmaterials to be placed in the furnace. The opposite end of the peel issupported on a trolley which may be moved toward or away from thefurnace. The peel is advanced to insert the charging box into thefurnace through a charging opening after which the peel is ro tated toinvert the charging box and discharge its contents onto the furnacehearth. The trolley is then moved away from the furnace to withdraw thecharging box.

Supporting the charging box on a long cantilever type peel requires thatthe connection between the peel and the trolley be capable ofwithstanding extremely high bending moments. Therefore, conventionalcharging apparatus are generally massive in relation to the volume ofthe charging boxes. The conventional cantilever type charging apparatusalso requires considerable floor space behind the furnace, which must bekept clear over the length of the furnace bay to allow trans versemovement of the apparatus if it is used to charge other furnaces.Moreover, because of the large areas and wide movements involved, theapparatus presents a significant safety hazard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a newand improved charging apparatus for open hearth furnaces.

A general object of the invention is to provide an open hearth furnacecharging apparatus which permits the use of material charging containersor boxes having a greater capacity in relation to its support and driveapparatus than conventional apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide a furnace chargingapparatus which requires less aisle space in which to operate than isrequired by conventional charging apparatus.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a furnace chargingapparatus which promotes rapid furnace charging.

How the foregoing and other more specific objects of the invention areachieved will be set forth in the more detail description of thepreferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

In general terms the invention comprises one or more open toppedcharging boxes pivotally mounted on a support car mounted on tracksadjacent the furnace and means for individually pivoting the boxes todischarge solid materials therefrom into an open hearth or othersuitably designed furnace.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating anopen hearth furnace and a charging apparatus according to the invention;and

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1 and 2 schematicallyillustrate an open hearth furnace which may be charged with the newcharging apparatus 11. Such furnaces and their components are well knownin the art and accordingly a general description will suffice. Furnace10 includes a refractory shell 12 surrounded by a supporting frameworkwhich is generally designated by the numberal 13. The refractory lining12 generally defines a hollow vessel having a shallow hearth 14 forcontaining molten metal, not shown. A plurality of charging openings 15are located along the back of the furnace 10 and each is provided with acharging door 16 which may be raised and lowered when desired with anysuitable means such as a motor operated hoist 18 mounted on frame 12.The furnace 10 itself may be mounted on stationary concrete or steelsupports, not shown, or it may be mounted, as illustrated, on gearsegment rockers 20 which are in turn supported on a stationary matinggear rack 22. The furnace 10 may be tilted on its rockers 20 in anysuitable manner such as for example, an extensible trunnion mountedfluid operated extensible cylinder assembly 24. The front of the furnaceopposite the charging openings 15 has an opening and a contiguouspouring spout 26 for permitting deslagging and pouring molten metal fromthe furnace 10. The furnace 10 may also have a fuel burner assembly 28extending through one or both for melting and heating the charge withinthe vessel, while an opening (not shown) may be provided in the oppositeends for exhausting gases generated during metal processing operations.

As is also seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the charging apparatus 11 ispositioned immediately behind the furnace l0 and includes one or morecharging boxes 32 which are supported on a car 34. While three chargingboxes 32 are shown in the illustrated embodiment, any number may beused, although generally there will be one for each charging door 16.The car 34 has wheels 35 which roll along tracks 36 supported on anelevated foundation 37 behind furnace 10. The tracks extend generallyparallel to the rear wall of the furnace 10 to facilitate aligning thecharging boxes 32 with the charging doors 15 of the furnace 10.

Since each of the charging boxes 32 are identical, only one will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The charging box 32 comprisesan open topped container or box of any suitable material, such as steeland having a pair of side walls 37, a floor 38, a rear wall 39, and anopen front end which has a discharge spout 40 affixed thereto.Aplurality of generally L-shaped support ribs 41 are affixed to thefloor 38 and rear wall 39 of box 32. As shown in FIG. 2, each chargingbox 32 is mounted on car 34 by means of a frame assembly 42 whichincludes a pair of generally L-shaped side plates 43 which areinterconnected by cross members 44. The plate 43 includes a top legportion 45 for engaging the box 32 and a generally vertical short legportion 46 whose lower end is pivotally connected to the car 34 bygenerally horizontally extending pivot shaft 47 suitably journaled tothe car 34.. The frame assembly 42 is pivotable on shaft 47 in avertical plane which is generally perpendicular to the tracks 36 so asto permit swinging box 32 toward and away from furnace 10. The car 34includes a vertical support column 48 on the side thereof away fromfurnace I I) for supporting the leg 45 of frame assembly 42.

The charging box 32 may be affixed to the frame assembly 42 in anysuitable manner such as by pins 55 extending from ribs 41, which pinsare rigidly held against brackets 56 on the support frame 42 by means ofretainer plates 57 which are attached to the brackets 56 by means suchas bolts 58. In its normally supported position on the car 34, thedischarge spout 40 is disposed toward the furnace and the box 32 istilted backwardly to a slight degree relative to horizontal so theclosed end of the box 32 is lower than the spout end to retain materialin the box.

The lower end of hydraulic cylinder 62 is pivotally mounted to car 34 bya pin 63 having an axis generally parallel to shaft 47. The body ofcylinder 62 extends generally upwardly and has a reciprocal shaft 64extending therefrom which is pivotally journaled on a horizontal shaft65 extending between frame members 44. The axis of shaft 65, shaft 47,and pin 63 are parallel. Thus it can be seen that when pressurized fluidfrom a source (not shown) is supplied to the cylinder 62 to extend theshaft 64, the support frame 42 will pivot clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2to move the box 32 from its position shown by full lines to its positionshown by the phanton lines, thereby discharging the contents of the box32 by way of spout 40 through charging opening 5 of ernal9-w Ahorizontally extending lift bar 65 extends between ribs 41 to enableremoval'and lifting of the charging box 32 from the support frame with aconventional crane hook not shown. In addition, if hydraulic cylinder 61should become inoperative, the support frame 42 and charging box 32 maystill be pivoted for discharging by engaging a conventional crane hook(not shown) withthe bar 65 7 In operation, the charging apparatus isnormally prepared by loading the charging boxes 32 with scrap or othersolid material to be charged into the furnace 10. Loading may be doneremotely from the furnace after which the car 34 is transported alongrails 36 by an suitable means to a position behind the furnace 10. Asseen in FIG. 1, the three charging boxes 32 are in alignment with threecharging doors of the furnace 10. When it is desired to charge thefurnace 10, the cylinder 24 is actuated to tilt the furnace about rockeras shown in FIG. 2 while the charging doors 16 are opened by operatingthe winch mechanism 18. The cylinders 62 are then actuated, eitherindependently or simultaneously to pivot the support frame 42 andcharging boxes 32 to the position shown in planton in FIG. 2 whereby theload of solid material is discharged by gravity into furnace 10 from thespouts 40 on the open end of the charging box 32. After discharge of thematerial from the charging boxes 32, the cylinders 62 are each retractcdto bring the support frames 42 back to their normal positions shown byfull lines in FIG. 2.

While a single embodiment of the invention has thus been described itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other variationscould be provided without departing from the inventive concept. Forexample the embodiment has been described with regards to a tiltableopen hearth furnace, but could easily be adapted for use withconventional fixed furnaces. Furthermore, other mechanically equivalenttilting mechanisms could also be provided. Accordingly, the foregoingdescription is not intended to be limiting and the scope of theinvention is to be taken soley from an interpretation of the claimswhich follow.

I claim:

1. The apparatus for charging a metallurgical vessel which has at leastone charging opening for receiving material, said apparatus comprising:

transport means,

container means for receiving material which is to be charged into saidvessel,

said transport means being constructed and arranged for being positionedadjacent said vessel to dispose said container means adjacent saidvessel opening, frame means pivotally mounted on said transport means,said frame means including a first elongate frame portion extendinggenerally vertically and being pivotally connected adjacent its lowerend to said transport means on the side of said transport means adjacentsaid vessel, the pivotal axis of said first frame portion lying asubstantial distance below said opening and extending in a directiongenerally parallel to said opening,

said frame means also including a second frame portion affixed adjacentthe upper end of said first frame portion and extending over saidtransport means in a direction generally away from said opening,container means mounted on the second portion of said frame means,

operator means coupled to said second frame portion and operative totilt said frame means about said pivotal axis and toward said vesselopening,

said container means having an open discharge end disposed generallyabove the junction of said first and second frame portions, the pivotalmove ment of said frame means moving the open end of said containermeans a substantial distance toward said vessel and into said openingand tilting the opposite end of said container upwardly for dischargingthe contents thereof into said opening.

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said transport meansincludes means for supportingly engaging said second frame portion at apoint remote from the junction between said first and second frameportions and at an elevation lower than said junction so that saidcontainer means is normally supported in an inclined position with itsopen end elevated relative to its opposite end.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein said container means isnormally supported with the major portion thereof disposed on the remoteside relative to said vessel of the vertical plane containing saidpivotal axis, the tilting of said container means by said operator meansbeing effective to dispose a major portion of said container on the nearside of said plane relative to said vessel.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 wherein said metallurgicalvessel has a plurality of aligned openings disposed on one side forreceiving material,

said transport means comprises elongate car means supported for movementon tracks extending in a direction generally parallel to the alignmentof said vessel openings, a plurality of container means for material tobe charged into said vessel, said container means being spaced apart onsaid car means a distance substantially equal to that between saidopenings and a plurality of said frame means, each of said containermeans being mounted on one of said frame means, and

actuating means for individually or collectively pivoting said containermeans between a supported posi- 6 transport means and each having itsother end pivotally connected to the second portion of its respectiveframe means at a point remote from the junction between said first andsecond portions, said cylinders being selectively or jointly actuable totilt said container means

1. The apparatus for charging a metallurgical vessel which has at leastone charging opening for receiving material, said apparatus comprising:transport means, container means for receiving material which is to becharged into said vessel, said transport means being constructed andarranged for being positioned adjacent said vessel to dispose saidcontainer means adjacent said vessel opening, frame means pivotallymounted on said transport means, said frame means including a firstelongate frame portion extending generally vertically and beingpivotally connected adjacent its lower end to said transport means onthe side of said transport means adjacent said vessel, the pivotal axisof said first frame portion lying a substantial distance below saidopening and extending in a direction generally parallel to said opening,said frame means also including a second frame portion affixed adjacentThe upper end of said first frame portion and extending over saidtransport means in a direction generally away from said opening,container means mounted on the second portion of said frame means,operator means coupled to said second frame portion and operative totilt said frame means about said pivotal axis and toward said vesselopening, said container means having an open discharge end disposedgenerally above the junction of said first and second portions, thepivotal movement of said frame means moving the open end of saidcontainer means a substantial distance toward said vessel and into saidopening and tilting the opposite end of said container upwardly fordischarging the contents thereof into said opening.
 2. The apparatus setforth in claim 1 wherein said transport means includes means forsupportingly engaging said second frame portion at a point remote fromthe junction between said first and second frame portions and at anelevation lower than said junction so that said container is normallysupported in an inclined position with its open end elevated relative toits opposite end.
 3. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein saidcontainer is normally supported with the major portion thereof disposedon the remote side relative to said vessel of the vertical planecontaining said pivotal axis, the tilting of said container by saidoperator means being effective to dispose a major portion of saidcontainer on the near side of said plane.
 4. The combination set forthin claim 3 wherein said metallurgical vessel has a plurality of alignedopenings disposed on one side for receiving material, said transportmeans comprises elongate car means supported for movement on tracksextending in a direction generally parallel to the alignment of saidvessel openings, a plurality of container means for material to becharged into said vessel, said container means being spaced apart onsaid car means a distance substantially equal to that between saidopenings and a plurality of said frame means, each of said containermeans being mounted on one of said frame means, and actuating means forindividually or collectively pivoting said container means between asupported position on said car means and a second position in whichdischarge ends of said container means are moved into said openings andthe opposite ends elevated for discharging material into said vessel. 5.The apparatus set forth in claim 4 wherein each of said actuating meanscomprises an extensible hydraulic cylinder having one end pivotallyconnected to said transport means and each having its other endpivotally connected to the second portion of its respective frame meansat a point remote from the junction between said first and secondportions, said cylinders being selectively or jointly actuable to tiltsaid container means.